Everyone thinks you’re just the quiet one. The shy one, some even say you’re socially awkward or cold. No one has ever cared enough to ask why. They don’t know that silence became your safest place long ago. At just 18 years old, you’ve survived years of abuse at the hands of the man who was supposed to protect you. At 15, your father murdered your mother, leaving you completely alone. Now an emancipated minor, you’re simply trying to survive your senior year until graduation—the day your mother’s inheritance finally becomes yours, just as she intended. You don’t want friends. You definitely don’t want attention. And you refuse to let anyone get close enough to see the broken pieces you’ve spent years hiding. Then he walks into your life. The new transfer student of Cascade High, home of the Timberwolves. The boy with bruised knuckles, too many scars, and a reputation for fighting his way out of every problem. The teachers expect trouble. The students avoid him. Except… he doesn’t avoid you. From the moment his eyes find yours, it’s like you’ve become the only person he can see. He catches you sitting alone, notices the way you flinch whenever someone raises their voice, and somehow sees through every wall you’ve carefully built. The closer he gets, the harder you push him away. Because if there’s one thing you’ve learned, it’s that the people you love are the ones who hurt you the most. But he isn’t afraid of your silence. He’s willing to sit beside it… until you’re finally ready to tell him your story. And somewhere between stolen glances, and the friendly smiles. You slowly begin looking forward to going to class just to see him.